Rovertech 2.0

Do you ever get tempted to move on from old rovers or do you intend to stick at it with these "old bangers" for the foreseeable future?? I know I for one will be staying with rover for a long while, too much time money and effort has gone into my 600 and even after almost 3yrs I still like hooning around in my vitesse despite it looking rough around the edges but its one epic workhorse and dual carriageway pursuit barge.lol

Anyway, plans, opinions and ideas for the future.. please!

Ive moved on from performance cars all together im perfectly happy smoking around in my Transit Connect good MPG and practical for fishing. Over the years have hemoraged a lot of money on performance cars I look back now and think why did I bother

Before getting my gti as a daily runner I thought about the old shape seat ibiza turbo, small amd nippy and not a bad looking motor, but its hard to move on from what u know, in 12 years of driving iv only ever bought rovers and loved them all, iv had 2 420 turbos, 3 coupe turbos, 2 216 gti's and a vitesse turbo sport all of which have given me a big smile on my face every time im in the car, and for the money what else gets close?

Ive moved to to mitshubishi evos there is no comparison to power delivery and handling. I do still keep my eye open for good bargains rovers and mg's.

Suppose when get fed up chasing big bhp fiqures may get a zs 180 ideally with lpg or zs tdi with 180 kit as a good economical motor for commuting.

Im not sure yet.
I have a 53 plate zt and its getting well on.
I dont think I would want a 'newer' or lower miles mg as I dont think it will get me anywhere above this one.
I need this to last until atleast this time next year due to monetary commitments elsewhere, plus an uncertain job means I dont want to commit to finance

I always said I'd get an Impreza when I hit 25. I'm 28 next month and have absolutely no plans to move away from Rover for the foreseeable future.

Most of that is due to having a little bit of debt (so the new car comes last - I want to buy a house when it's paid off) but it has made me appreciate the Rover much more. I still think they look good, they still make me smile, they're cheap to run and fuel and have been very reliable when you consider the car and the the performance offered.

Some day I will own a white classic 2 door Impreza STi Type R, but for now, the Rovers are staying.

I would love an evo but I guess its down to individual bugets, it really always comes back to money, an r34 skyline would be sweet but u need a fuel truck to follow u round and they arent cheap to buy, I think rovers from early 90s to late 90s r the best ones tho, my fiances zr base model isnt great build quality as far as the interior goes but mechanicly its been 100 percent, never gone wrong in 4 and a half years, if your budget exceeds rover money then it seems automatic to buy a merc beemer or audi.

greenfli wrote:I would love an evo but I guess its down to individual bugets, it really always comes back to money, an r34 skyline would be sweet but u need a fuel truck to follow u round and they arent cheap to buy, I think rovers from early 90s to late 90s r the best ones tho, my fiances zr base model isnt great build quality as far as the interior goes but mechanicly its been 100 percent, never gone wrong in 4 and a half years, if your budget exceeds rover money then it seems automatic to buy a merc beemer or audi.

Evo's are not exactly economical either

I get 25 mpg from mine and its been tuned to over 320bhp so i dont think thats too bad

I said I'd have an evo 8 by 35, that's 13 months away

That's not happening currently

So ill settle for a zafira gsi as an addition

I have always enjoyed my Rovers but I really do miss my old Mk5 Transit and recon that's what I'll be getting next.

Am not moving on anytime shortly, ive still got so much to do and they never seem to break all other cars i jump in tend to die.... and their always cheap enougth to repair.

Ross

God knows...

We are looking at e46s for the Mrs rather than the Zaf, that said there is a chance my Dad will sell me there 06 plate octavia 4x4 tdi for trade price next year, that will do for the Mrs and caravan towing..

But me ? really dont know, no doubt the Ti will go, and will run the ZS for a couple of years, i may then buy another ZS in newer/better nick and swap it all again and run that for a couple more years.

After that who knows, i still think its good to stick with what you know, so right now thats Rovers, BMWs, and some VAG stuff....

Of course cost comes in to it, most likely what ever gets chopped in at work worth next to nothing as long as its in good nick

Some days I think it`s time I parted company with my Rover 214sli (1995) the money I`ve spent on it over the years, but other days I think, well, all cars go wrong, develop faults, etc - all cars need maintaining, and there are less and less of my particular model on the road these days, which makes the car quite unique. Not a classic, but getting there...

Only yesterday (Sat) at my local garage a complete stranger came up to me and said, words to the effect, that I`d done well to keep the car on the road, and went on to tell me about *the number he`d had towed into his scrap yard over the years.

Well, the day will surely dawn when my Rover 214sli will go the same way; its inevitable, but until then I`ll keep spending money on it, and I`ll keep it on the road for as long as I`m able. Besides I`d miss the admiring glances, and the "you don`t see many of these on the road these days" compliments - least I think that`s what they are - compliments. I like to think so anyway!

* And I should be alright for spare parts, thanks to the number of 214sli`s rotting away in scrapyards up and down the country.

I've spent a fortune on my 220 and i put it away for the winter and i've just lost interest altogether and now its up for sale. currently running around in a half battered ZR TD and that will do me until next year at least. All i seem to care about with cars of late is that they do 45mpg+ and dont break down

Im nocking on a bit now so i need to think about saving some money up and getting a mortgage and what not. Still think ill get something newer next year, not sure what yet.

I just picked up a classic impreza turbo. It's great fun but I do miss driving my BRM.

To be fair the impreza is bog standard and is intended just to get me around in winter. I'd love one with a bit of money spent on it.

The amount of cash i'm putting into the rover means I'll never get rid of it but a 350ish bhp classic impreza with sorted handling and brakes is probably what I'll end up with.

Went to modified live at Brands Hatch today and some proper car porn there!

My ZS is just a daily and would sell it without any hesitation if needed. Don't know why but I've never taken to this car even though it has been really reliable and looks a nice car.

My Coupe on the other hand is a different story which I've owned for 4 and a half years now and still feel really dedicated and motivated with, even if it has been off the road for nearly a year now!

No intentions of getting rid of my coupe but if I was to let it go, I don't think I would come back to the MGR scene actually. I'm 23 and only ever had rovers, not saying that's a bad thing but I would like try out some newer sporter cars.

stuballs wrote:but a 350ish bhp classic impreza with sorted handling and brakes is probably what I'll end up with.

If the engine has done a fair bit of leg budget for a rebuild all the parts to do it properly going on prices 4 years ago eas just over £1200 so bare that in mind uping the power on sn engine with loads of miles

I will always keep my coupe to much time and money of mine has gone into but when im im 24 25 i want to head red jap wouldn't mind having a evo 8 scooby( turbo) r33 or rx8 but for now there rover is my car

dommiboi wrote:evo 8 scooby( turbo) r33 or rx8

RX-7 maybe Dom, but IMO the RX-8 doesn't belong in the same category as an R33 Skyline.

Questionable reliability/poor MPG and oil use... you'd expect a bit more than 230bhp before you ran into problems like that.

In b4 T16 jokes

Yeah... Reliability is rubbish but I just love the look of them. My mate bought an black rxd with a r33.engine in it the other day all properly done its amazing. But if I had the money neither of them would be my car it would be an s15, imo beat looking car in the word

I've always had minis and even went to metro gti's when I was a young single man,

When I got with my now ex wife, I had a serious accident at 125mph and a Armco barrier in the rain in a metro gti. As she was pregnant, it was decided to go to family saloons...

Now two years after splitting I've really enjoyed having mg zr's to play with.

My plan is to get the mk2 zr at around 300bhp over a year or so, hopefully by then my missus (not the ex obviously) will have finally passed her test and gained a bit of no claims I can finally get a Subaru as I've wanted since around 2003 as a family car...

So, leave rover? Nah.

Just keep It as a daily.

pengy_666 wrote:
When I got with my now ex wife, I had a serious accident at 125mph and a Armco barrier in the rain in a metro gti. As she was pregnant, it was decided to go to family saloons...

Punx0r wrote:

pengy_666 wrote:
When I got with my now ex wife, I had a serious accident at 125mph and a Armco barrier in the rain in a metro gti. As she was pregnant, it was decided to go to family saloons...

Got to admit the mind boggles on that one... I was thinking the same

dommiboi wrote:Yeah... Reliability is rubbish but I just love the look of them. My mate bought an black rxd with a r33.engine in it the other day all properly done its amazing. But if I had the money neither of them would be my car it would be an s15, imo beat looking car in the word

Pictures and who built it or BS! And while we're on the subject what skyline engine????

Well seems most people are sticking with rovers for now, I guess until parts start to dry up, I think you have to own one to understand how under-rated they are, a car that exceeds expectations is always welcome and tbh in 12 years none of my rovers have left me at the road side and reliability and power together is a sweet combo, I guess jap cars have that too perhaps excluding subarus as most of them seem to need rebuilds by.80,000 milrs or at least all my friends ones have, and rotory engines although v.cool have pretty poor reliability over time.

greenfli wrote:Well seems most people are sticking with rovers for now, I guess until parts start to dry up, I think you have to own one to understand how under-rated they are, a car that exceeds expectations is always welcome and tbh in 12 years none of my rovers have left me at the road side and reliability and power together is a sweet combo, I guess jap cars have that too perhaps excluding subarus as most of them seem to need rebuilds by.80,000 milrs or at least all my friends ones have, and rotory engines although v.cool have pretty poor reliability over time.

My old man always had the preconceived idea that turbo cars should be avoided but I have to say I've had far less problems while in rover turbo ownership than anything else i've had. It may be an old engine but the T16 is probably the most underrated bit about these cars..

I think subject to funds, when my ZS derv dies, i'll be looking for a BMW330d.

Mate of mine has a W reg one, and it is a lovely motor, quick as well.

The power delivery is just so smooth, and a decent ride.

Cheers
Dave

ive got back into rovers and got a lovely black 620ti.
i have ended up regretting selling some of the rovers ive had so this ones going nowhere.
it's a second car so no matter what goes wrong with it in the future i can take my time and not be pressured into botching or need to get a replacement car.
my run around is a rover 25 that one can be replaced though.

Dave wrote:I think subject to funds, when my ZS derv dies, i'll be looking for a BMW330d.

Mate of mine has a W reg one, and it is a lovely motor, quick as well.

The power delivery is just so smooth, and a decent ride.

Cheers
Dave

Make sure it's a 6 speed! Also if its an e46 replace or remove the Inlet flaps immediately! Apart from that they're pretty much bullet proof

Din wrote:

Punx0r wrote:

pengy_666 wrote:
When I got with my now ex wife, I had a serious accident at 125mph and a Armco barrier in the rain in a metro gti. As she was pregnant, it was decided to go to family saloons...

Got to admit the mind boggles on that one... I was thinking the same

Driving on a motorway, drizzle, wipers intermittent. Crossed from outside over to inside after overtaking two cars, as I came into inside lane and wipers cleared the drizzle I noticed a large swan stood on the carriage way.

I didn't think hitting a near 3 1/2ft swan at 125 was a good idea so I tried to cross out of the lane....

Well you know why happens in a slammed metro with momentum and switching on the momentum you're gonna spin. I tried to steer into the spin but felt this would cause car to flip. So I closed my eyes, pushed into the seat with stiffening mt body and pushing my feet and crossed my arms..

I hit the Armco still traveling broadside, the front end dug under the barrier and eventually ripped the concrete out the ground which flipped the car
Into spin in the air.

Silence... Seemed a Very long time.

You know the feeling on the waltzers when the guy spins it and you are are being lifted out, I could feel that happening, I was pushing so hard the seat back snapped and I could feel me going out the car, I gripped my wrist with my hand and used the seat belt in my inside of my elbow to stay in the car.

Eventually I heard Tyres skidding and a huge crash when I hit the ground and then a huge jolt where a car crashed into me and threw me from the centre lane where I landed into the ditch of the other side of the hard shoulder..

I got out the car, felt all over to see if anything was missing or broke..

Nope, just a lump on my head where I remember my phone hitting my head and a graze
On my ankle where I had legs between the pedals.

Around 6 or so people came running and the first guys face scared me! I said am I bleeding and he then turned from complete shock to disbelief...

"no" he replies, youre fine.

I eventually spoke to te guy who hit me and asked why he crashed into me. He said whilst I was spinning he didn't know where I was going to land as ones so high in the air he couldn't see me.

I looked at the car and the front bumper was on the ditch of the other side of the motorway, bothe hubs on offside were gone, the rear end was around 2 foot wide and the rear bench seats overlapped each other

Every single window except drivers door window, every panel was smashed beyond recognition except drivers door.

The rear wheel hub was not found nor the rear bumper.

The cops came,

The only thing really I recall vividly was the one said...

"we don't normally come to accidents like this"

I asked what that meant..

"normally people are dead"


As straight as that. That's when it hit home, how serious it was. I struggled with that emotion for a couple of weeks.

Lucky ain't the word...

Someone decided I deserved another chance that day. The gearbox was demolished.

Apparently I was at least 15-20 ft in the sir and span about 10 or 12 times, I hit the ground on the near side rear corner that demolished it.

Well, from a personal view, if I ever get them finished, I doubt I will have anything else now until petrol is banned or has run out.

The Ti will be tweaked slightly more and will satisfy the performance and fiddling bug - with roads getting more crowded and the rules more draconian I think massive power road cars have had their time - and if you are racing on a track a Ti probably wouldn't be your first choice. Power to weight would still keep it annoying the latest "fast cars" for a while yet. Even a standard Ti is still faster than 90% of the eurotin on the roads.

The bubble will cater for normal use, and being 99% brand new, should give several hundred thousand miles of trouble free motoring. With properly converted biodiesel (I get 25 litres of WVO per fortnight) running cost should be pretty affordable.

I'll keep the landrover for the zombie apocalypse or if I ever need to move a fridge or small house. The rest, we shall see.

The only improvements I really think a new car would bring is in terms of safety or status. On my daily commute you have more chance of being hit by a tractor than a car, so I suspect if it comes to it I will probably no longer care about the former, and certainly don't care about the latter.

The benefits of running an older car far outweigh the drawbacks for me: cheaper parts, easy maintenance, cheap running, good performance, minimal legislative interference - and frankly, reliability. I also think you get more feedback and a better driving experience, but that may just be personal bias.

Wait

You finished the bubble?